By Abdellatif Sharaa
KUWAIT: The health ministry announced the 4th Kuwait international conference on the latest developments in treating digestive system tumors from Dec 1 until Dec 3, where an elite group of international experts from international cancer centers will share their experiences in facing these types of tumors.
Conference Chairman and Oncologist at Kuwait Center for Cancer Control Dr Medhat Otaifa said the conference will be held under the patronage of Health Minister Dr Ahmad Al-Awadhi and present a comprehensive roadmap to achieve the best results in treating cancers of the digestive system, as successful delicate surgeries play an important role in recovery.
Dr Otaifa said the main goal of this conference is presenting a comprehensive review about the most recent methods of fighting digestive system tumors to face major challenges when treating some advanced cancers, which requires the use of supporting treatment prior to surgeries. He said the conference is important for presenting modern and different methods in treating tumors of the rectum, which includes supervision and preventive and delicate local resection using surgical endoscopes.
Dr Otaifa said tumor surgeries and their specialties represent the highest level of effective medical service for cancer patients, as each surgical procedure is specially designed for each patient according to the type and stage of the disease. He said esophagus and stomach tumors are among the most prevalent health problems, as they are the second-most cause for deaths, taking into consideration a notable increase in the number of deaths in East Asian countries compared to Europe and the US.
He said the last decade saw a notable advancement in the methods of treating such cancers, be it at the diagnosis level and the staging of tumors and development of suitable surgical treatment. Dr Otaifa said surgical endoscopes and robots are used as an alternative to surgeries in treating this type of cancer in the early stages in order to achieve higher recovery rates. He said colon and rectum tumors are considered the most fatal cancers and most common among cancer patients, but most respond well to delicate surgical treatment.